MARKETS ARE SLIDING AGAIN AFTER MORE BAD DATA (SPX, SPY, DIA, DJI, QQQ)

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By Matthew Boesler

The Enterprise, Brockton, MA

By Matthew Boesler

Posted Feb. 5, 2014 at 10:03 AM

By Matthew Boesler
Posted Feb. 5, 2014 at 10:03 AM

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Markets are off to a rough start this morning after a brief respite from the sell-off yesterday.

S&P 500 futures continue to slide and European equity indices have tipped into the red in the wake of the release of payroll-processing firm ADP's monthly National Employment Report, which estimated only 175,000 workers were hired by private-sector firms in January, below the consensus Wall Street estimate of 185,000.

U.S. Treasuries continue to gain, and gold is up sharply, while the dollar continues its slide against the euro and the yen.

The charts below show price action in various markets this morning. Across the top from left to right are S&P 500 futures, the dollar-yen exchange rate, and the euro-dollar exchange rate. Across the bottom are gold futures, 10-year U.S. Treasury note futures, and the dollar-Turkish lira exchange rate.

Now, all eyes are on the release of the Institute for Supply Management's monthly survey of services-sector firms, due out at 10 AM ET — and in particular, what it has to say about employment.

"We would pay much closer attention to ISM Non-Manufacturing headline and the employment sub-series," says Bryan Zarnett, a strategist at Citi.

"With U.S. data continuing to surprise to the upside and market expectations of Fed tightening being brought forward, this morning's ADP print may initially cause some volatility in fixed income and FX markets. However, we believe that ISM is much more important in supporting our long-term USD positive view."